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The 2016 Duke Clinical Research Day, sponsored by the School of Medicine, in partnership with the Duke Clinical Research Institute and the Graduate Medical Education office, took place on May 19.  This event coincided with International Clinical Trials' Day (May 20), sponsored by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) to honor the contributions of clinical researchers around the world.

Congratulations to the 373 students in the Duke University School of Medicine who graduated on May 15, 2016, marking the successful culmination of their hard work and dedication. Students received degrees in the following programs:

The recombinant poliovirus therapy developed at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Health has been granted “breakthrough therapy designation” from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded fellowships to five Duke medical students and a renewal to a sixth.  Each medical fellow receives $41,000 in grant support, and first year fellows are eligible to apply for a second year in the program.  The program has funded more than 1,700 students since its launch in 1989, and is one of the few privately funded programs in the nation that sponsor year-long fellowships for medical, dental and veterinary students. HHMI received 195 applications for this year’s program, up from 187 in the previous year.

Four School of Medicine faculty were awarded distinguished professorships at a May 4th dinner. Distinguished professorships recognize both exceptional achievement and the potential for future achievement. They are awarded to our most distinguished faculty who have demonstrated extraordinary scholarship in advancing science and improving human health.  Charles Johnson, MD, Professor of Medicine James L. Abbruzzese, MD

Michael B. Kastan, M.D., Ph.D., executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, an advisory organization to the president and Congress composed of experts in all scientific fields. Kastan is one of 84 new members, who are elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding contributions to research. 

An article in Nature details that fears are on the rise that US government and private funders are working at cross purposes.   “There’s a lack of overt leadership, and in the absence of a logical strategy we have a tendency to throw plates of spaghetti against the wall and hope it sticks,” says Ira Mellman, vice-president of cancer immunology at the biotechnology company Genentech in South San Francisco, California. Read More

Five School of Medicine faculty members were elected to the ASCI and AAP in April. Membership in these two organizations is a distinction recognizing excellence and outstanding achievement: 

Shelley Hwang, M.D., chief of breast surgery at the Duke Cancer Institute, has been named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people for 2016 as a pioneer in her field. One of the world’s foremost experts in early-stage breast cancers, Hwang has become an international leader calling for research to guide treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), in which abnormal cells are detected in the lining of a milk duct, but haven’t spread to other tissues.

The Presidential Award, one of Duke’s highest honors, is given to staff and faculty for outstanding job performance and distinctive contributions within the past calendar year. School of Medicine Recipients are:   ​Lakeshia “Kiwi” Whitted Staff specialist, Office of Curricular Affairs School of Medicine Clerical/Office Support